Popgun construction



April 22, 1958 R. 1. DANIEL POPGUN CONSTRUCTION Filed May 8, 1956 '7 lei/:44,

FAIL 71 5:

POPGUN CONSTRUCTION Application May 8, 1956, Serial No. 583,575

4 Claims. (Cl. 124-14) This invention relates generally to toy guns, and more particularly to a toy popgun of the general type illustrated and described in United States Patent No. 2,729,208 issued January 3, 1956.

It is an object of this invention to provide a toy popgun which simulates in appearance an air rifle or the like and which includes a novel construction to permit an extremely loud bang or noise to be obtained when the gun is fired.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide an improved valve arrangement for releasing compressed air to create the loud bang or noise, which valve arrangement is extremely simple and inexpensive in construction and durable and efficient in use.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure l is a fragmentary longitudinal view, partly in section and partly in elevation, of a toy popgun of this invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal view of the structure illustrated in the area indicated at 2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of a further embodiment of a valve which may be employed in a gun of this invention; and

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of a still further valve which may be employed in a gun of this invention.

Referring now to the drawing, it will be seen that the toy gun includes a barrel and frame 5 connected with a stock 7 to simulate an air rifle or B-B gun having front and rear sights S and 9, respectively. A plunger assembly 11 is disposed within the barrel 5 and is normally urged toward the front of the gun by means of a coil spring 13. The plunger assembly 11 includes a piston or plunger 14- which is secured to the front of a two-piece plunger rod or tube 15. The two sections of the plunger rod are interconnected by means of a pin 17 which acts as an abutment for the front of the spring 13. The rear end of the spring 13 engages an abutment 19 which is an extension of the sight 9 and is connected with the barrel frame. The rear end of the plunger tube is split with the opposite walls interconnected by means of a rigid plate 21.

A cocking lever 23 is pivotally connected intermediate its ends to the barrel frame at 25, and the forward end 27 thereof is adapted to engage the plate 21 at the back of the plunger tube so that when the rear end of the cocking lever is swung downwardly, the forward end of the cocking lever will move rearwardly to move the plunger tube rearwardly and compress the spring 13. The plate 21 rides over a sear 29 on a trigger 31 which is pivotally connected to the barrel frame at 33 so that the sear engages the plate and holds the plunger in its cocked position until the trigger is pulled rearwardly. Pulling on the trigger causes it to pivot relative to the barrel frame so that the sear 29 swings downwardly away from nited States Patent 0 the plunger tube plate and permits the plunger to be pro pelled forwardly by the spring 13.

The front end of the barrel 14 is closed by means of a flexible closure member 35 which is supported against forward movement relative to the barrel by an abutment member 37 which is welded or otherwise connected to the barrel. While the flexible valve 35 may assume different shapes, it is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 as having an annular periphery and substantially flat side faces. The center portion of the flexible valve, which may be made of rubber or other suitable flexible material, is slit at 39. The slit is shown as extending at a slight angle to the horizontal, but it is to be understood that the angle of the slit may very without departing from the scope of this invention.

After the gun has been cocked and the trigger pulled,

the piston 14 will move toward the flexible valve 35 under the impetus of spring 13. As the piston approaches the valve, the air pressure will, of course, materially increase, and when the air pressure reaches a predetermined amount, the air will cause the valve 35 to deflect so as to open the slit and permit the rapid escapement of air therethrough, thus creating an explosion or loud noise and bang effect.

A gun has been built and proven satisfactory wherein the internal area of the barrel was approximately one square inch, a to pound spring 13 was used, and the valve 35 was made of rubber having a 60 to 70 durometer with the slit extending in the manner shown.

In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 3, a valve 35a is illustrated which would be placed in a gun in place of the valve 35 previously described. The valve 35a is of a generally hat shape in side elevation having a center bulging or projecting portion 41 with a slit 43 being provided in the center of the projected center section 41.

In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 4, the valve 35b is of substantially the same shape as the valve 35a except that it is positioned in the gun barrel with the center section 41b facing the piston rather than facing away from it as in the embodiment of Fig. 3. The center slit 43b is provided in this valve in the same manner as previously described, and under certain circumstances, depending upon the size and type of gun and the compressive forces exerted by the piston, it may be desirable to use any one of the three valves in the gun in order to obtain the desired loud noise effect.

What is claimed is:

1. A toy popgun, including a hollow cylindrical housing member, a bore-fitting piston slidably disposed in said housing member, closure means spaced from one end of said housing member and sealingly closing the same so that an air chamber is provided between said piston and said closure means in which air will be compressed when said piston moves toward said closure means, and actuable means for moving said piston toward said closure means so as to compress air in said chamber, said closure means including a flexible washer having a slit in the center portion thereof so that when the compressed air reaches a predetermined value said washer will flex and said slit will then permit the rapid escapement of compressed air to the atmosphere to produce, a loud popping noise.

2. A top popgun, including a hollow cylindrical housing member, a bore-fitting piston slidably-disposed in said housing member, closure means spaced from one end of said housing member and sealingly closing the same so that an air chamber is provided between said piston and said closure means in which air will be compressed when said piston moves toward said closure means, actuatable means for moving said piston toward said closure means so as to compress air in said chamber, said closure means including a flexible washer having a slit in the Patented Apr. 22, 1958 center portion thereof so that when the compressed air reaches a predetermined value said washer will flex and said slit will then permit the rapid escapement of compressed air to the atmosphere to produce a loud popping noise, and a rigid backing member secured to the inner surface of the housing member Wall and engaging one face of said washer adjacent the outer periphery thereof.

3. A top popgun, including a hollow cylindrical housing member, a vbore-fitting piston slidably disposed in said housing member, closure means spaced from one end of said housing member and sealingly closing the same so that an air chamber is provided between said piston and said closure means in which air will be compressed when said piston moves toward said closure means, and actuatable means for moving said piston toward said closure means so as to compress air in said chamber, said closure means including a flexible washer having a slit in the center portion thereof so that when the compressed air reaches a predetermined value said washer will flex and said slit will then permit the rapid escapement of compressed air to the atmosphere to produce a loud popping noise, said flexible washer having a concave center portion with the slit in the center of the concave portion.

4. A top popgun, including a hollow cylindrical housing member, a bore-fitting piston slidahly disposed in said housing member, closure means spaced from one end of said housing member and sealingly closing the same so that an air chamber is provided between said piston and said closure means in which air will be compressed when said piston moves toward said closure means, and actuatable means for moving said piston toward said closure means so as to compress air in said chamber, said closure means including a flexible washer having a slit in the center portion thereof so that when the compressed air reaches a predetermined value said washer will flex and said slit will then permit the rapid escapement of compressed air to the atmosphere to produce a loud popping noise, said flexible washer having a convex center portion with the slit in the center of the convex portion.

Lefever July 2, 1935 Hoffman Mar. 20, 1945 

